Robin Shreeves of Mother Nature News reports on the USDA’s decsion today to let schools decide whether they want to dish up “pink slime” to students. Also known as “lean beef trimmings,” or LBT, this pink substance is made from slaughterhouse scraps of fatty beef and connective tissue that are treated with ammonia to kill bacteria. Pink slime is usually sold to dog food companies, but recently it has been added to pure ground beef as a cheap filler. Fast-food companies recently stopped using it in their burgers, but ABC News reported last week that more than 70 percent of ground beef in supermarkets is blended with LBT.
